Photo Review has been given a 'first look' at a pre-production unit of the new Stylus Photo R3000, which was announced in the US on 17 January. This model will sit above the Stylus Photo R2880 at the top of the company's A3+ desktop line-up when it's released in early March.

There are those who make prints often, and there are those who make prints occasionally. The split, you might think, is between amateur and pro, but that's not always the case. Some "amateurs" print as much if not more than some pros, and some pros make their own prints only when they have time,...

This is an A3+ printer that uses pigment inks - nine cartridges which have a larger capacity (2.3X) than previous models. As well as handling paper up to A3+ width (32.5cm) it comes with a roll paper fitting.

Still, if you're like me and you print hundreds of prints every week, then I suppose the consumable parts of the printer will wear out long before the rest of it does, as was the case with my R2880.

Superb photo prints; Can print on roll paper; CDs and DVDs; Bigger ink cartridges are more economical; Auto switches between photo; matte black ink

Wasteful ink purge during auto switching

For professionals needing large, high quality prints, one of the finest we've looked at.

I've owned an Epson 1290 A3 printer for some years now and have loved it like a brother! The 1290 weighs 8.4 kgs with overall dimensions of 609x414x766mm (WHD). Colour: basic beige. The R3000 is quite a different beast: heavy as lead at 15kg and measuring 616x228x369mm, it's styled in black.

Setup is relatively quick and very straight-forward. After unpacking the R3000 from the large box and removing all of the tape and packaging materials, which took around 10 minutes, you plug the printer in and follow the instructions to insert the 9 ink cartridges.

I bought this Printer in May 2014 I have used many printers over the years. This was very simple to setup and install. Software went in very easily. Didn't take long at all. The priming of the ink lines when install ink does take awhile. The print quality was fantastic. Very happy with the product.

Superb print quality ; Print speed ; Large capacity ink cartridges ; Compact size ; Excellent LCD screen ; Build quality ;

Price ; Straight paper path is a clumsy operation ;

Epson's high-end photo printers—the ones that are aimed at professional photographers and graphic artists as well as serious amateurs—are universally acknowledged as among the best, so it's no surprise that the Epson Stylus Photo R3000 is an impressive representative of the breed. What is a surprise, though, is just how impressive it is. Not only is the R3000 a runaway pick for Editors' Choice, but even among Editors' Choice printers, it stands out as more impressive than most. For a start, the R3000 offers all the same capabilities as the Editors' Choice Epson Stylus Photo R2880 ($799.99, 4.5 stars) that I reviewed last year, including professional-quality photos and graphics at fast speed. It also offers the same ability to print on cut sheets as large as 13 by 19 inches, print at up to 13 by 44 inches using roll paper, and print on printable optical discs and a variety of fine art papers in addition to more common paper stock. It can also handle media up to 1.3 mm thick using ...

Gorgeous output at fast speed makes the Epson Stylus Photo R3000 of interest to both serious amateurs and professional photographers and graphic artists.

Fast; Impressively high-quality photos and graphics; Prints on cut sheets up to 13 by 19 inches; Fine art papers available

Lack of a rated duty cycle makes it unclear how much you can print per month without shortening the printers' useful life